{"id":4311,"date":"2026-06-07T03:30:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T03:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/06\/07\/how-xavier-becerra-turned-around-his-campaign-to-be-californias-governor\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T03:30:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T03:30:50","slug":"how-xavier-becerra-turned-around-his-campaign-to-be-californias-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=4311","title":{"rendered":"How Xavier Becerra turned around his campaign to be California\u2019s governor"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1ma2nzf\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"7fb33d61-91da-4397-ad09-1f94257a2adc\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Man in suit and tie at lectern, smiling and laughing.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/10cc9bcfd3b79ac4daff3acbf304e4db38493e81\/197_0_2500_2000\/master\/2500.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"372\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Xavier Becerra during his election-night party at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Los Angeles, on 2 June.<\/span> Photograph: Chris Torres\/EPA<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"7fb33d61-91da-4397-ad09-1f94257a2adc\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Xavier Becerra during his election-night party at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Los Angeles, on 2 June.<\/span> Photograph: Chris Torres\/EPA<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1jwoxwb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-13sure5\">\n<div class=\"dcr-47lvke\"><a href=\"\/tone\/analysis\" class=\"dcr-epjkf7\">Analysis<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">How Xavier Becerra turned around his campaign to be California\u2019s governor<\/h1>\n<div class=\"dcr-isvq2p\">\n<div class=\"dcr-acy0w6\"><a rel=\"author\" data-link-name=\"auto tag link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/uwa-ede-osifo\">Uwa Ede-Osifo<\/a><span> and <\/span><a rel=\"author\" data-link-name=\"auto tag link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/lauren-gambino\">Lauren Gambino<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1b20i6h\">\n<p>In late March, his polling hovered near 3%, but in a stunning reversal Becerra has advanced to the general election<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-pzh79o\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Xavier Becerra, the former Biden cabinet official whose California gubernatorial campaign survived a deeply underwhelming start, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jun\/05\/xavier-becerra-california-governor-primary-election-result\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">advanced<\/a> to the general election, in a stunning reverse of political fortune.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">If he prevails in November, Becerra would make history as the state\u2019s first Latino governor since 1875, when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/california\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">California<\/a> was briefly led by Romualdo Pacheco, who was born in the territory when it was still part of Mexico.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Becerra, born in Sacramento to a Mexican immigrant family, rose from the California state legislature to Congress, where he served from 1993 to 2017, to attorney general of California, taking the place of Kamala Harris when she was elected to the US Senate. He departed that role in 2021, when he was tapped by then president Joe Biden to be the health and human services secretary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Despite his government bona fides, Becerra floundered at the start of the race to succeed the term-limited <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/gavin-newsom\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Gavin Newsom<\/a> as California governor. His polling hovered around 3% in late March, and he lagged far behind three Democrats \u2013 then-congressman Eric Swalwell, former congresswoman Katie Porter and billionaire activist Tom Steyer, as well as two Republicans, Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco \u2013 in the non-partisan primary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s return to the White House, Democrats had moved to quickly turn the page on the Biden years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Many voters gravitated toward leaders willing to brawl on the president\u2019s level, like Newsom. The party has sought anti-establishment outsiders and younger-generation challengers. Becerra, a mild-mannered 68-year-old political veteran, seemed hardly a match.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"eb4f9403-09da-4c3f-a2fd-e130c36c9eaa\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\">\n<div id=\"img-2\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A woman in a rainbow-colored flower headband, a Pride T-shirt and red skirt records herself in front of a Becerra for governor sign.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/850b47cd4b283eca1da95319d5caf86a98c00068\/0_0_5722_3815\/master\/5722.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"296.69259000349524\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-2\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"eb4f9403-09da-4c3f-a2fd-e130c36c9eaa\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Lizza Monet Morales at an election-night event for Becerra, on 2 June in Los Angeles.<\/span> Photograph: Jae C Hong\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">There was a particular anti-Trump buzz in California after the passage of Proposition 50, a Newsom-led redistricting plan meant to blunt Republican gerrymandering in Texas, said Christian Grose, a University of Southern California political scienceprofessor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The crowded Democratic field had also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/mar\/24\/california-governor-election-republicans\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">stoked concern<\/a> that the party vote would be so splintered that the two Republican candidates could finish first and second in the primary, locking Democrats out of the general election top-two runoff. In March, Rusty Hicks, the chair of the California Democratic party, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/mar\/03\/california-governor-democrats-gavin-newsom\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">urged<\/a> candidates without a viable path \u2013 effectively those polling low like Becerra \u2013 to drop out and help avoid the nightmare scenario of no Democrat being on the ballot for governor in November.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Becerra\u2019s bid was dealt a blow when he failed to qualify for a planned March debate at USC. Six candidates were invited, based on a mathematical \u201cviability\u201d formula, to participate, but the forum was nixed after blowback that it would feature no candidates of color.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cHe was a reasonably good candidate,\u201d said Grose, who devised the formula methodology for the scrapped debate, but Becerra did not excite voters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">His odds changed, however, when the race was jolted in April by a slew of sexual sexual misconduct and assault allegations against Swalwell (the San Francisco-area representative denied the allegations, but withdrew his bid and resigned from Congress).<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Becerra surged to the top of polls in the vacuum left by Swalwell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cHe had the resume. He was known to voters. So, he was an alternative to turn to that made sense,\u201d Grose said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The wake of Swalwell\u2019s scandal also renewed panic about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/democrats\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Democrats<\/a> being locked out of the general election in a state where about 60% of the vote usually goes to Democratic candidates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIt sounds strange that would be a fear in California, but Democratic voters were starting to get nervous. And so the more centrist or left-of-center voters in the Democratic party gravitated to Becerra, while the more left voters gravitated to Steyer,\u201d Grose said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">On the campaign trail, Becerra\u2019s speeches have often been interspersed with anecdotes about being the son of Mexican immigrants. He has linked his personal history to the current moment, as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/trump-administration\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Trump administration<\/a> wages a mass deportation campaign largely targeting undocumented Latinos.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">While rivals have accused him of mismanaging the care of undocumented immigrant children as HHS secretary, Becerra\u2019s background has struck a chord with Latino voters, who regard him as relatable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">About 37% of Latino voters said they would vote for Becerra, according to a poll conducted just before this week\u2019s primary by professors at three California universities. The two other candidates with the most support among Latinos in the poll were the Republicans, Riverside county sheriff Bianco, with 17%, and former Fox News host Hilton, with 12%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cI think he was just the right person, the right time, the right profile,\u201d said Mike Madrid, an anti-Trump Republican strategist who studies Latino voters. \u201cExperience\u201d came up over and over again in conversations with Becerra voters in recent weeks, he said in a recent interview. But Madrid said they weren\u2019t only referring to Becerra\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9, lengthy as it was, but also to his \u201clife experience\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cI thought they were talking about his r\u00e9sum\u00e9,\u201d Madrid recalled recently. \u201cThat\u2019s not what it was. It was relatability \u2026 What they would say is: \u2018He\u2019s the son of a construction worker. He did construction work himself. He represented and lived in East LA.\u2019 They\u2019re like: \u2018This guy\u2019s one of us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Becerra supporters from other California communities also mentioned his working-class appeal as a factor in their vote. Dwayne Murphy, a 35-year-old Irvine resident, told the Guardian this week he cast a ballot for Becerra, after initially considering Steyer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cI know a lot of people were branding him as a corporate shill,\u201d Murphy said, referring to a line of attack that has emerged about conglomerates like Chevron funding Becerra\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Murphy, a delivery worker for Amazon, said he was drawn in by Becerra\u2019s promises to aid the working class and facilitate first-time homeownership. \u201cWe\u2019re just like the majority of people in California trying to find ways to survive and grow,\u201d he said of his family.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">As California\u2019s slow vote-counting process remains underway, with an estimated 3m ballots still to be counted, it remains unclear whether Becerra will face the Republican Hilton or the Democrat Steyer in the general election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cCalifornia, we\u2019re just getting started,\u201d Becerra said in a Friday video post to X, after he took the lead in the primary count, and the Associated Press projected that he would make the top two. \u201cLet\u2019s hit the ground running. Let\u2019s go win this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1xavc9x\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/california\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">California<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/democrats\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Democrats<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/west-coast\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">West Coast<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/analysis\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">analysis<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=How%20Xavier%20Becerra%20turned%20around%20his%20campaign%20to%20be%20California%E2%80%99s%20governor&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jun\/06\/how-xavier-becerra-turned-campaign-california-governor?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fjun%2F06%2Fhow-xavier-becerra-turned-campaign-california-governor&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/jun\/06\/how-xavier-becerra-turned-campaign-california-governor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-babllm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Xavier Becerra during his election-night party at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Los Angeles, on 2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}